Serving people on the iGo Written by Jonathan L. Wright, Outpost contributor Edited by Stu McCann Chris Burgess Katie O'Brien, Outpost staff You could say that iGo Corp. is a tale of two buildings. The company's old headquarters--a low, gray, nondescript structure--sits on a windswept knoll located where the outer sprawl of Reno meets the mighty northern Nevada desert. As corporate neighborhoods go, it isn't one. Photo by Katie O'Brien and Chris Burgess The unfinished sign outside iGo's headquarters gives visitors a sneak peak into the company's future. But iGo just came in from the corporate cold. Early this January, the e-tailer set up shop in a new home, a snazzy, 85,000 sq. ft. southwest Reno building made of stone and glass with a fountain in the courtyard. iGo's new neighbors include local titan International Game Technology and the luxury homes and condos of the Double Diamond Ranch subdivision. If iGo's former headquarters are about where the company has been, its new headquarters are about where the company is going. The December issue of Inc. magazine ranked iGo 119 out of the country's 500 fastest-growing firms. The corporation is spending heavily on hiring and marketing in a bid to join the e-commerce big leagues. iGo officials want to keep the company at the forefront of integrating the Internet and new mobile technologies into its business and the lives of its customers. From a strip mall startup to a major player Founded by Chief Executive Officer Ken Hawk, iGo began life as Battery Express, Inc. in 1993 in a San Jose, Calif., strip mall. The company soon changed its moniker to 1-800-Batteries, the name it operated under when it moved to Nevada in 1997 to reduce labor costs and other business expenses. The company officially became iGo Corp. in 1998. iGo sells more than 6,500 batteries and accessories for laptops and other mobile electronic devices, especially accessories that are hard to find or model specific. Photo by Katie O'Brien and Chris Burgess The new building was designed to keep employees on the GO with volleyball courts and skateboard ramps. "We're selling all the products that fuel the portable revolution," said Hawk, who likes to refer to himself as the chief energizing officer, in a recent CNN interview. "[We're] helping keep the mobile person on the go, up and running." Fittingly, the company's slogan is Solutions for People on the Go, a phrase that evokes the speed and convenience that technology is ideally supposed to bestow. continue to next page     TOP Outpost | Metro | Lifestyle | Travel | Dining | Outdoors | Sports Archives | Specials | Links | About us | Mail us